That's not to say that playing as a recon is a bad thing. In fact, a skilled recon player can be one of the most integral parts of a successful unit in Battlefield 3; you just have to know what you're doing. I've got three tips that every recon player should see. Take these to heart, and you'll earn more points while propelling your team to victory.

Spot constantly - If you do decide to go recon, sniping enemies is only one of your objectives. Keep one finger over the spot button at all times, highlighting every enemy soldier or vehicle that you see so the rest of your team can have a better chance at taking them out. If a teammate takes out an enemy that you spotted, you'll also net a tiny bonus.

Shoot from medium range - When you're handed a rifle with 12x optical zoom, it's tempting to try to shoot enemies that aren't even in the same hemisphere as you. Try to resist that urge, because snipers who move in to medium range tend to have much higher kill counts than their sneaky brethren. Get just far enough away as to not be noticeable, and move often. You'll take out more targets and make things easier on your assault-rifle-wielding brethren.

Everybody loves mobile spawn points - Every once in a while try to get in close to an objective, find a hidden spot, and drop that mobile spawn point. I've seen this simple action change the course of an entire battle.

Look Before You Spawn

When I first picked up Battlefield 3, I was shocked at how often I got killed immediately after spawning in on a teammate. As it turns out, I was just being stupid. There's a simple formula for determining whether or not to spawn on one of your squad mates:

Is he in a firefight?

If yes, spawn somewhere else. If no, spawn on him.

Follow this simple rule and you'll save yourself a lot of frustration.

Often in objective-based game modes, you'll find that the two opposing teams tend to get gridlocked in one specific part of the map. In Operation Metro this point tends to be at the top of the stairs near the "B" flag. In Grand Bazaar it's that stupid tunnel (you know the one). Thankfully, even these maps have been designed with numerous little routes that go around the heavy-traffic areas.

Whenever you notice that your team seems to be stuck in one spot fighting the enemy, do everyone a favor and flank like the flanker you are. Sure, it'll take you out of the action for a minute, but stick to side streets and sneak around behind the enemy and you'll reap the rewards. If you survive long enough to have some squad mates spawn on you, you could even change the course of the fight.

Always Have an Achievable Goal in Mind

This is a bit more abstract than the rest of the tips that I've given in this piece, but it's probably the most useful thing to keep in mind while playing any game mode in Battlefield 3's multiplayer. You should always, always be working towards a very specific objective. That objective can be anything from "take and defend B" to "get rid of this enemy tank," but it has to be something achievable that will give your team some sort of advantage.

In other words, your goal should never be "kill a bunch of dudes." That's not what Battlefield multiplayer is about. Likewise, if you're just hiding out and trying to survive, you're not bringing anything to the table. Push forward, take key objectives, and constantly do what the enemy doesn't expect you to do. Then watch the points and wins pile up.

By Ryan RigneyCCC
Contributing Writer

*The views expressed within this article are solely the opinion of the author and do not express the views held by Cheat Code Central.*